Slowly Healing
by NIGHTMARYS
Summary: When a complete stranger jumps in front of a truck to save Donatello's life, her whole world gets flipped upside down. She must adjust to the broken leg, cuts, bruises, and life in the sewers. But will the rest of the turtles take kindly to this news or will they refuse to harbor a stranger?
1. Chapter 1

It was a late evening. Everything seemed to be in order, meaning that there was no trouble looming about. They made sure of it; for it was their job to protect this city. And they always succeed in the end, which was fact.

They always stuck to the rooftops. There's not enough cover down on the streets, they could be discovered. And then the entire city would know of their existence, and that would be a very bad thing. Why must they hide, do you ask?

Well, the world is not accustomed to their kind. They are how others would say, "Freaks". Just on the fact that they are different. That they were never human. But they have human in them. But what humans would call freaks, they're own kind is known as… Mutants. How is this possible, you might ask?

There is a substance, not known to this dimension, called "Mutagen". And anyone who would touch it, a sort of infection would spread throughout their entire body. For some, the process is gradual. It would change them only a little every day and then when the process was over, they would be different. But for others, it is instantaneous. And those who dare touch the Mutagen… Only a choice few are known to keep their humanity. Many among the Mutants are known to lose their humanity.

But for _them_, there was no humanity to lose, but to gain humanity. They were gifted in so many ways… They started out as pets. Four baby turtles from the pet store, under the care of a normal human man. And then, everything changed. When a single canister of Mutagen was broken, the man that purchased those turtles was the first to be changed.

The infection spread instantaneously throughout his body. And as he was touched with it, a single brown rat had crossed by the alley. That was the entire DNA the Mutagen needed to recognize. But before he could change, the tank in which the turtles were was dropped into the puddle of Mutagen. And that was enough.

The man that had bought those turtles had given them his DNA. The DNA of a human. When they were once turtles, they were mere pets. But now… They were Mutants. And they took in their new form with ease.

And now, here they were. Warriors amongst the ranks of mere humans, who do not deserve the protection. They have earned no right to be safe from the threats that are out there, trying to destroy this world they call home.

But they have chosen to protect them. That is true courage. They stand by everyone, even those who do not deserve it.

But tonight was different than any other normal patrol for them. It was very, very unusual for them to see this happen.

The night was passing by very slowly, but they didn't mind. The more time they were out was less time spent in the sewers. They call it their home now. Or, their lair to be more specific.

Not that they didn't like their home. They loved it with all of their hearts, but it was very nice to get out and to see the real world. The world that their father has kept from them for 15 years is now part of their home.

The streets of New York City were quiet and still. Their leader, Leonardo, was always in the front. He carried on the back of his shell two katana swords and wore a blue mask over his eyes. Behind him was usually Raphael. He carried two Sais and wore a red mask. Behind him was Donatello. He carried a bo staff on the back of his shell and wore a purple mask. And lastly, Michelangelo. He carried twin nunchucks and had an orange mask. The order is why it is because that's usually how things get done.

Are we saying that Michelangelo isn't the best fighter? Of course not! He just tends to underestimate the situation. Leonardo is always on his guard and is to expect the unexpected. They each have an individual skill that contributes to the team.

For Leonardo, it's the skills of a leader. Not only can he communicate with everyone on the team easily, he knows just how to delegate responsibility and handle the heat they give off. He has confidence in his tactics and he commits to what he does until the end. And his honesty is painful, but he doesn't lie to any of his brothers. That would be wrong and he knows right from wrong when it comes to his brothers.

And here we come to Raphael. He might not be the best communicator, or the most honest of the team, and can't really commit, but he has what every team needs. You always need some smoke where there's fire. Raphael is tough and doesn't give in when it matters. His pain tolerance is very high and he knows how to win a fight. And he may fight with his brothers. Constantly… But they know that he cares. Even if he doesn't show it. Ever.

Donatello is the best at what he does. Using his brain to the full extent. His carefully thought out tactics and scenarios make for the best strategy. His brothers tease him for using words they don't understand. He tends to express his thoughts very elaborately and it confuses them. So he has to break it down for them. Not to say they aren't as smart as him. But they know that his intelligence is what makes a good team thrive.

And Michelangelo? He's very special. He might not be a leader, and might not be as strong as Raphael or as smart as Donatello, but he has what they need. Energy and enthusiasm. Meaning, if you don't like what you're doing, what's the point? He makes every situation fun and exciting for him and that gives them an advantage. Not to mention he has a sense of humor to ease the tension between the fighting and feuding.

They are the perfect team.

~Line Break~

The music from her headphones blasted at the highest volume without causing damage. She had a habit for ignoring everyone around her. There's a reason, though.

Her name is Piper DiMarco. Her mother's first name is Primrose and her grandmother's name is Peggy. It's a tradition in their family to name their daughter with a name that starts with P. Piper DiMarco it is.

After her father walked out on her mother, Piper was forced to get a job to support the both of them. Primrose DiMarco is on death row. So Piper has to watch over her constantly to make sure she's doing okay. Primrose has cancer that affects her lungs. Sometimes they'll stop working on their own for minutes at a time. She's been put on oxygen and can only breathe with assistance.

And now that she's on oxygen, she can't work. Primrose has been inside that apartment for years. Piper has taken care of her for a very long time. And in between school and work, she always finds time for her mother.

That must be why she doesn't talk to anyone else. Piper is always so exhausted that she slurs her words sometimes. It's been a long time since she got a good night's sleep. And she's always kind of grouchy.

Piper always has some place to be. Tonight, she was walking home from Antonio's, flour in her hair and on her face and a cut on her thumb. She had her dirty apron in her backpack and had her music blaring. _Shinedown_ always seemed to make her feel better, no matter what.

But since she was so in depth of her music, she didn't hear the very loud bangs that were behind her. As far as Piper knew, it was just a normal night.

But before she knew what was even happening, something hit her in the back and knocked her over. It was like she was hit with a cinder block!

Piper fell to the concrete with a loud groan and her headphones were knocked from her head and across the sidewalk. She let out a low groan and held the back of her head that was now aching. And the front of her head as well. There was the feeling of something warm running down her eyebrow… She touched it and saw blood.

Piper sat up with a moan and turned to look at what hit her. But she was not prepared for what she saw… It was the orange masked turtle, Michelangelo. He was holding his forehead in turn and then gasped at her. He was seen. Oh no, the guys are gonna be so mad!

Their shock of each other though was cut short from a loud bang in the alleyway and out stumbled the enemy him and his brother were fighting. And speaking of his brother, the purple masked turtle had stumbled out of the alleyway, knocking over a tin garbage can in the process.

"Mikey!" Donatello shouted, looking over at his brother. He then saw who was next to him, still in shock from the whole thing. He expected her to run away screaming any second now. But with Donatello distracted by the scene, he didn't see the low kick to the front of his plastron delivered by the Kraang Droid he was trying to destroy.

Donatello was thrown out into the middle of the street and was so dizzy that he couldn't react in time. There was a Semi-truck heading in his direction.

Piper didn't know what had come over her when she thought this was a good idea. But while Michelangelo was tackled by the Kraang droid, Piper ran into the road to protect someone and something she has never met or seen before.

"Look out!" Piper shouted. Donatello finally looked up and he saw the headlights speeding towards him very quickly. He froze like a baby deer but was not killed.

Piper sprinted at full speed before she shoved him with all the force she could muster. Donatello fell backwards away from the road and the semi-truck. But that just means that Piper was the one that took the hit for him.

The front of the semi-truck smashed into her side and she went across the pavement. No doubt her leg was broken. And her clothes were torn and her skin was scraped and bruised. And her head was throbbing and her vision was blurry.

Piper lay on the concrete with so much pain through her body, it was unbelievable. Donatello didn't see her get hit but he heard it. It was the most sickening sound he's ever heard… Before the driver of the semi-truck could get out and look at what he hit, Donatello rushed to Piper and picked her up. He got a few groans from her as he did so but he carried her into the darkness of the streets.

Michelangelo had finally finished off the Kraang droid and watched as the semi-truck drove off with a very confused driver. He saw that Piper was in Donatello's arms and he rushed across the street.

"Donnie!" He shouted, kneeling down next to his brother who was pulling the now bloodied dark brown hair out of Piper's face.

"Is she okay?" Michelangelo asked as he touched the cut on her upper arm. Donatello was breathing heavy and just nodded.

"She'll survive. But we have to get her back to the lair. If we don't help her there, she might go into a coma, and we don't need that,"

Michelangelo just nodded and watched his brother stand up with Piper in his arms. Her head fell lazily over his arm and her arm hung down from out of his grip. Michelangelo was still confused as to what had even happened to her.

"What happened?" He asked Donatello. His brother breathed in carefully and looked down at the girl's face that had a forming bruise on her cheek and cuts all over her face and neck.

Donatello looked at his brother with a very serious expression. "She saved my life,"


	2. Chapter 2

Donatello and Michelangelo had returned to the lair without any more mishaps along the way. It would be a lie to say that these two weren't scared for Piper's wellbeing. Piper had absolutely no obligation to take that hit for Donatello. She could have easily just screamed and ran. But she didn't. And they had no clue why she stayed.

Why she saved him from that truck.

Donatello tightened his grip around Piper who was still unconscious from the hit and he carefully jumped over the turnstile Michelangelo followed behind him and they both ran inside. His brothers heard them come in and jumped up.

"Guys, your back!" Leonardo said, excited to see his brothers at first. But the excitement was then replaced with fear and concern as he saw what was in Donatello's arms. "What happened?"

Suddenly, their first human friend, April O'Neil, ran out of the lab where she was for most of the night, and saw what the commotion was all about. She ran across the room, tripping over many things in the process. Donatello looked at his brothers and then at April.

Right now, none of them were as important as Piper. None of them were as important as her health and safety.

Raphael saw the girl in Donatello's arms and he really wasn't happy about it. "Good work Donnie. Bringing a complete stranger into the lair!" Raphael shouted at him. Donatello gave him the evilest of glares and pushed him out of the way with his shoulder.

"Move it, your opinion doesn't matter right now," He snapped, running passed everyone and into his lab where he laid Piper down on the table carefully. All of the others had run inside his lab and was watching him and what he was doing.

"April, I need your help," Donatello held up a pair of scissors. April ran to his side and took the scissors from him.

"You need to cut off her clothes. I have to see how bad her injuries are," He instructed. She just nodded and began to slice through Piper's black t-shirt that was ripped and torn everywhere. The fabric was removed and she began to cut off her dark denim jeans. Michelangelo helped them out by removing her shoes, throwing them to the side. April finished slicing through her upper clothing and looked at her body.

Piper laid there in a pair of black star pattern panties and a white cotton bra. The straps crossed in the back and were putting pressure on the bruise she had earned from skidding across the pavement. All of them gasped at her appearance.

Donatello sighed heavily and reached down to feel her face which was burning up.

"Donnie what happened?" Raphael said, staring at Piper. "It looks like she was hit by a truck,"

"She was," Donatello said, reaching down towards her thigh and feeling it down and then up. Her femur was definitely snapped but from what he could feel, it wasn't a horrible break. Just a spiral fracture that should heal easily. But the area around it was already heavily bruised and discolored.

For such a powerful hit, she didn't have many injuries. She was going to be sore for months though. But nothing that could kill her. Her brain was knocked loose in her skull and nothing inside of her was broken that could pierce her internal organs.

Leonardo had finally registered what Donatello had said to him. "What?! And you didn't try and help her?!" Donatello suddenly slammed his fist on the table.

"I couldn't save someone who was trying to save me!" He shouted. Everyone jumped back in shock at how he raised his voice. Donatello breathed in carefully and looked at them all.

"I'll tell you all what happened soon. But now, I need everyone out. I-I need to think," He commanded. None of them hesitated as they ran out of the room. Even April left him alone.

Donatello gasped for air after he realized he was holding his breath. He looked down at Piper who still had her eyes closed. Her chest raised and fell with every breath she took and she seemed to be very peaceful. Donatello knew better though as he reached down and pulled her hair out of her face.

Donatello would be lying if he didn't think she was beautiful. Even with all of those cuts, bruises, her face still resembled what he saw when he was pushed out of the way. Donatello began to clean out her wounds with several different chemicals. Alcohol and peroxide mostly. He began to put butterfly stitches on her eyebrow that was going to have a scar going through it now.

Donatello wrapped her leg carefully, splinting it with a piece of sanded down wood. He wrapped up her waist and rubbed a sort of salve on her bruises. The compression bandage that he wrapped around her would help in the healing process. After that, he stitched up the large and deep cut in her arm and wrapped that just for safety of it getting infected.

Minutes went by of him just… Staring at her. It isn't normal that a regular human girl would risk her life to save him; A mutant. It's the opposite of how he met April. He risked his life and the life of his brothers to save her. But when April had first seen him, she screamed in fear. Piper was different. She didn't scream. And she didn't hesitate to throw herself in front of that truck.

He didn't realize how long he had been staring until he saw her eyes flutter and her nose scrunch up. She pressed her lips in a thin line and opened her eyes carefully…

Piper blinked several times, trying to adjust to the lighting. After she did, Piper simply turned her head to the side and looked into his eyes. Donatello stared back into hers, expecting her to scream… But she didn't. Piper just whispered quietly, "It wasn't a dream…"

Donatello didn't know how to respond to that. He just continued to stare at her. "Um… I think this is the part where you're supposed to scream,"

Piper smiled and laughed a little. "I'm sure most would… But no one really deserves that, do they?" Piper tried to sit up but was then pushed down by him.

She looked at his hand as it lay gently on her chest. She noticed he only had three fingers. And his skin was rough and calloused. And then she noticed something else…

"Uhm… Where are my clothes?" She asked, her voice still just barely above a whisper. Donatello blushed a deep shade of red and then jumped up, scrambling about his lab until he brought a blanket out for her. Piper pushed herself up and felt the fabric drape around her shoulders. She huddled into the warmth and smiled at him.

"Thank you…"

"Actually… I think I should be the one thanking you," He said. Piper gave him a confused look. "Well, if it wasn't for you, I would've been made into turtle soup," He said, giggling.

Piper made a face and closed her eyes as her face twisted up in disgust. "Ugh… So I was hit by a truck…" She stuck out her tongue and rubbed her forehead. Donatello laughed a little.

"Yeah… Sorry about that," He stood up a little awkwardly. Piper looked down at her leg and wanted to throw up when she saw how bad the break was. "Mom's not gonna be happy about this,"

Donatello sighed and sat down in front of her. "My name's Donatello… But my brothers call me Donnie," He said. Piper smiled at him. It was a very warm and welcoming smile too.

"My name's Piper. Piper DiMarco," She held out her hand. He stared at it for a second before carefully slipping his hand into hers. She gently shook his hand. Donatello knew this was a different feeling. Piper was unlike anyone he ever met. But it's not like he had a yardstick to compare her to. He only knew a few humans and only a choice out of those few respected them as if they were actual living beings.

"So… Donnie… Where exactly am I?" Piper said, moving a little from where she sat so her backside wouldn't go numb completely.

"Uh, well for your own safety and ours, I can't exactly tell you where you are. But I can tell you that you're safe," He promised. Piper gave him a quizzical look before she just shrugged.

"If you say so…" And she let out a sigh. But nearly fell off the table when the door opened.

Once it was open, Michelangelo ran inside and stared at the girl that was now awake. "You're awake!"

Piper just nodded and smiled. "I remember… You're the one that knocked me over," She said, smirking. Michelangelo's face went red really fast. She just giggled. "Don't worry. I'm okay," Piper reassured him. He smiled happily at that.

"So you must be one of Donnie's brothers," She assumed. Michelangelo nodded and sat down next to her on the bed.

"My name's Mikey!" He said, smiling. Piper smiled back and then tensed up as he touched her arm. She let out a hiss of pain and bit her bottom lip hard. "Ow, ow, ow, ow…"

Michelangelo let go of her arm and frowned. She pulled the blanket down and saw the bandages on her arm that were smeared with blood. "It was a bad hit, huh?"

Donatello frowned and just nodded. "It was a pretty bad hit," She sighed and rubbed her arm.

"Do you know where my phone is? Either of you?" Michelangelo smiled wide and pulled the phone out of… absolutely nowhere, and handed it to her. Piper gasped loudly and grabbed her phone, smiling.

And when she opened the phone, she saw loads of missed messages and… "The Police?"

She then felt the phone start to buzz again. It was 911. Piper looked at the two of them and gulped before answering. "H-Hello?"

"_Yes, is this Ms. Piper DiMarco?" _

"Yes, this is her. What's happened?"

There was a long pause before Piper's eyes went wide and she felt tears start up in them. "I-I understand, sir… Thank you for… For telling me," And then the phone slipped from her grasp and fell to the concrete below with a loud shatter.

"Piper? What's wrong?" That was when Leonardo and Raphael ran into the room to see what the shatter was. They all stared at Piper before she finally spoke up.

"M-m-my mom…"

~Line Break~

Piper stood outside of the house, holding back her tears as she saw her mother… In a black body bag. That was the breaking point for her. She covered her eyes with her hands and bawled.

A police officer came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry, Ms. DiMarco." He said. Piper wiped her eyes and let out a breath. "Do you have anywhere to stay? Because if you don't, we could set up a place with your closest relative," Piper felt a shiver go down her spine. Her closest relative was all the way in California and it was her Aunt Maureen.

Out of fear, she spoke up. "I have a place to live… I just need to retrieve some things from the house," The police officer nodded and then left her alone. Piper couldn't go back inside until they had left because the apartment was a crime scene at the moment. Piper couldn't help but feel very, very guilty… Maybe if she had been there, this wouldn't have happened.

After everything was done with, Piper went inside, limping on the crutches that Donatello had made her, and went to the elevator, pressing the button with the number 7 on it. She limped down the halls and inside the apartment. The lights were off and the rooms were all empty.

Her sadness was overwhelming as she sat down on the black couch in the living room and stared at the door that was her mother's bedroom.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked at the hand and saw it was green and had three fingers. It was Donatello. He sat down next to her on the couch and frowned a little.

"Sh-She only had a few months left… But I didn't think her time would come so fast…" Piper broke down crying once again and covered her eyes with her hands, tears sliding down her cheeks and onto her bare legs. Michelangelo had explained to their father, Master Splinter, about what happened. He was more than happy to lend her something that would come in very useful.

It was a traditional black and red women's kimono and fit her quite well. Donatello had to help her get back up to the surface, that revealing the lair's location. And he promised he would help her with anything she needed.

"So, where are you gonna go?" Donatello asked, breaking the silence. Piper bit her lip. "I-I don't know. I lied to that cop. My closest family lives on the other side of the country, in California," Donatello suddenly felt guilty…

Piper just continued to cry, her back hunched over and her eyes puffy and red from all the tears. Donatello didn't know what else to do, so… He wrapped his arms around her tightly and hugged her.

Piper didn't even think about it. She pressed her face into his plastron and cried as much as her body would let her. This went on for a few minutes before Piper felt something start in her stomach. Out of complete fear, she tried to hobble her way to the bathroom but didn't make it at all. Her now broken leg didn't like the idea of her putting pressure on it so it gave out right there.

As soon as Piper fell to the floor, she threw up.

Donatello winced at her dry heaving and the occasional disgust of recently eaten food, but all he could do was rub her back soothingly, waiting for the sickness to stop. And once it did, Piper felt very, very dizzy.

"Donnie… where will I go?" She said, looking up, her face and eyes very red and her hair sticking to her face as sweat dripped down her brow and nose. Donatello decided immediately.

"With me,"


End file.
